Qanun Description

The qanun has a trapezoidal shape with an average length of 72 - 100 cm. at its long side and a width at 40 - 50 cm. It is constructed by skilled craftsmen and everything is made by hand using up to seven deferent kinds of wood. The top is made of sycamore wood, the back of pine wood; the bridge is made of maple. The sound board is partly covered by skin, usually calf or Fish, which acts as a resonator to the bridge resting above.
The Qanun is tuned in the diatonic scale, each note consisting of triple course strings. The strings are made of six deferent diameters of high grade of nylon. These grouped in triplicate, are plucked with picks of tortoise shell or horn, and secured to the index Fingers by small metal rings. The number of strings varies from 78 on Egyptian instruments to 72-75 on Turkish instruments. The range varies between three and four octaves.
The tuning pegs and the peg lock are made of hardwood, either rosewood or ebony. Next to the wooden keys on its left hand side are a series of adjustable nuts. By raising or lowering these, one can raise or lower the pitch of tech course. These are made of an alloy of iron and alpaca which are cut into shape and highly polished. On the right-hand side above the leather surface is the bridge. The instrument is tuned with a movable metal key, while its melodic range is usually three octaves and two or three notes.
It has a unique system for tuning. First, using the pegs, all three strings for each note are tuned to a simple major diatonic scale with no sharps or flats in equal temperament like the modern piano. Then for each note there are from four to twelve manuals which can make from one sixth to one half step difference in the pitch... Originally, the qanun seems to have been held vertically. An Armenian manuscript dated 1269 depicts a player with the trapezoidal shape held upright. Before the invention of manuals, levers underneath the strings used to make pitch changes and accidentals were made by placing the thumbnail against the string.